An Ordinary Day
by time-converges
Summary: Most days, Reg liked his job as a prison guard. Until the day the Doctor and Donna were put in his charge. Doctor/Donna


Most days, Reg liked his job. Sure, it was mostly standing around, keeping an eye on whoever was locked up at the time. He liked it because it was straightforward, routine, not a lot of decisions to make. Every now and then he might get to wrestle someone to the floor for a bit of excitement, but most days were quiet, one day the same as the next. Until they day he met the Doctor.

It had started off like any other day: joking with the other guards in the break room, checking the assignment sheet, then reporting to his post in the north wing. He had just settled into his chair at the guard station and was checking over a list of new detainees when he heard a woman's voice.

"Oi, watch it!" the woman yelled, and he saw Phil pulling a red-haired woman down the corridor. "You're going to regret this, you know," she continued. "This is all a mistake, and you'll be sacked over it, I know it. Ow!" The guard kept his grip on her arm, not impressed by her threats. Reg smiled to himself. As if they didn't hear that sort of thing every day. He saw her looked wildly around as they passed other cells. She was shoved into a cell, and as the door clanged shut she threw herself at the bars, yelling, "You just wait. Me and my husband are going to sue the backside off of you, you'll see!"

Phil just laughed and walked over to Reg's desk, to hand him the paperwork for the new prisoner. "I put her in with her husband," Phil said, gesturing toward the cell where he had put the woman. "Name's Donna Noble. And does she ever have a mouth on her. Better keep an eye on both of them."

"Great, and here I thought it would be a quiet day," he responded, rolling his eyes. "Thanks for the heads up." He skimmed the paperwork, then put it with the rest of the days files, before turning his attention to the monitor on to watch their cell.

The man in the brown suit, who had been sitting on the cot was now embracing the woman. He turned up the sound in time to hear the man say, "Oh, I was hoping they hadn't got you, too," as he stepped back from her.

"I was about to say the same," she said. "This seems to happen to us everywhere we go."

"Yeah, must be something I'm doing wrong," he said. "Are you hurt?" he added, as she rubbed her arm.

"No, I'm fine. You?" She studied his face.

"Don't worry about me," he said.

"So, what's the plan, then?" she asked. "You gonna break us out of here or what?" Reg leaned forward. That's all he needed – a prison break.

"They took my coat, with my screwdriver in it," he said. Reg sat back, but kept watching.

"Oh no. What, then?"

"The ambassador will miss us soon enough. Hopefully he'll find out what happened and get us free. We should be fine." Reg glanced at the pile of paperwork What could the ambassador do to help them?

"Why doesn't that make me feel better?"

"Really, we'll be fine. Now, what was it you were shouting at the guard as he brought you in?"

He saw the woman blush and look away. Oh, now this was getting interesting, he thought. "I was just explaining that he was making a mistake, and that he might be sacked for it."

"No, what you said just as he closed the door. Something about suing the backside of off him? You and your husband?"

"Yeah, I just thought..." she said, still not looking at him.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just talking," she said. "You know me, shouting at the world."

"Didn't sound like that to me. Who did you mean?"

"Well, they assumed we were married, didn't they?" she said. "I wanted to be sure we were in the same cell is all."

"Donna—" the man said, and Reg found himself quite interested in what the man might say, but he was distracted by one of the other monitors and had to go reprimand another prisoner for ripping up the bedsheets. By the time he got back to his desk, the couple was hugging again. Damn, what had he missed?

"Happy Anniversary, by the way," the man said, without letting go of her. So were they married? Now he was confused.

"What?" she said, pulling away to look at him.

"Two years since you found me again," the man said, cryptically, as he let her go, but kept hold of her hand.

"Oh," she smiled. "I always think of Christmas as our anniversary," she replied, equally mysteriously.

"Ah, well, that works too," he said. "Still, not where I had hoped to celebrate."

"A dank prison cell? That's a relief," she said. "I was afraid you'd lost all sense of romance."

"Not a chance. Although, we seem to spend so much time in cells such as this..."

She smacked him lightly on the arm. "And whose fault is that?"

"Mine, of course," he admitted with a grin. "But you love it."

Reg glanced at the paperwork on the two again. Where were they from? The papers only said "offworlders" but gave no other details. He looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching from the other corridor, and scrambled to his feet as the ambassador reached his desk. "Ma'am?" he asked.

"You have two prisoners here that I want to be released immediately," the ambassador said, reaching over to take the paperwork from Reg. "And I want no record of them ever being here."

"Ma'am, that's not our usual procedure," he said, at a loss.

She looked him up and down. "Do you like your job?" she asked.

"Er, yes, ma'am, very much," he answered.

"If you want to keep it, I suggest you do as I ask." She took a few steps toward the cell, then stopped, looking back at him expectantly. "And hurry up!" she snapped.

He glanced at the monitor. The two prisoners were kissing now, quite enthusiastically, and he was really sorry he had missed the intervening moments. He grabbed the key and followed the ambassador to the cell door. The two prisoners broke apart at the sound of their footsteps and turned expectantly toward the door.

"Ambassador!" the man said, grinning.

"Doctor, Ms. Noble, I do apologize for this misunderstanding," the Ambassador said. She turned to Reg. "Let them out at once!"

He fumbled with the key, but got the door open. The man and the woman stepped out into the corridor.

"Doctor, I hate to say this, but I think you and your wife should leave at once. I'll accompany you to your ship, but I'm afraid it's no longer safe for you to be here." The two glanced at each other with small smiles when the Ambassador said "wife." Were they married? His head was starting to hurt.

"Will you be blamed for us getting out?" the woman named Donna asked.

"Don't worry about it," the Ambassador said.

"What about the guard?" the man asked, looking at Reg.

"He's acting on my orders. There will be no repercussions for him, either," she replied. "Now, let's get going, shall we?" she said, and started down the corridor. The man followed her, holding the woman's hand.

"Thank you," Donna called over her shoulder.

Reg watched them go, shaking his head. So much for an ordinary day. He returned to his desk and erased the videotape, then returned to sorting paperwork as he kept an eye on the other prisoners. Almost lunchtime, he thought. Then maybe the afternoon would be more normal.


End file.
